Let Me Introduce You to Mindful Eating

You've heard of mindful eating, but you don't really know what it is... mindful eating is a technique that helps you gain control over your eating habits.

But I don't have any bad habits? I hear you say... well, do you eat in front of the TV or perhaps have a fork in one hand and you're scrolling on your smart phone with the other? Well, that is a VERY bad habit to have around food. When we eat it is important that we are fully present.

In this post, I'm going to take a closer look at mindful eating and how it works. You'll be able to see just how well it'll benefit everyone.

Mindful eating is based in mindfulness, which is a form of meditation that helps you to recognize your emotions and physical sensations.

Mindfulness has aided in the treatment of conditions such as eating disorders and anxiety.

So what does it involve?

- eating slowly

- eating without distraction (i.e. no screen)

- Listening to physical hunger cues

- Learning to distinguish between actual hunger and non-hunger (i.e. boredom)

- Learning to cope with any food guilt or anxiety surrounding food (as in eating disorders)

- Recognizing how food choice makes you feel

- Helps you appreciate food

The idea is to replace any automatic thoughts or reactions to food with a more conscious response.

Why You Should Try It...

We are surrounded daily by distractions, the kind of distractions that take our attention away from the act of eating. Distractions like TV and phones stop us from being completely present when we are eating a meal.

Why is it important to be present while eating?

Well, one of the biggest reasons it that it'll stop us from overeating. Did you know that it takes 20 minutes for your brain to realize it's full? Why is that important? When the brain gets the message that we've eaten enough it signals us to stop eating. This process is critical for our health and so eating while distracted means that this process doesn't work or we are too distracted to notice the signal.

This point in particular is important if you are prone to binge eating, binge eating (but not purging) is a legitimate eating disorder and a very common one at that. Mindful eating can be a really useful tool in learning how to control this tendency.

By practicing mindful eating you will learn to recognize the signals of physical hunger and fullness as well as being able to distinguish between emotional and physical hunger. Are you really hungry or are you stressed out? sad? bored????

what's more is you'll increase awareness of triggers that cause cravings for certain types of food.

This awareness will give you the freedom to actually choose how you respond.

This topic, may deserve it's own series. So if you'd like to learn more about mindful eating please let me know in the comments.

Disclaimer

this information is not intended for treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment. Please seek a licensed medical practitioner if you believe you are affected by anything mentioned in this post.

Eating disorders differ in severity. Some require medical attention, some require physiological attention. But all require support to overcome, if you are suffering please reach out to someone you trust and ask for help.